Contents

Character and Appearance

Daeron was dignified. He was round-shouldered, with thin legs and a small pot belly. His kind thoughtful face had a certain quiet strength, though, and his eyes were clear and full of resolve. He wore the elaborate dragon crown of his father, Aegon IV Targaryen.[4] On his coinage, he was depicted as clean-shaven.[5]

Daeron the Good was seen as wise, just, and kind-hearted.[3] Not a warrior by any means, he was a cultured, scholarly man who kept company with maesters and other learned men.[6]

History

Early life

Born on the last day of 153 AC during the final years of the reign of his great-uncle King Aegon III, Daeron was the eldest son of Prince Aegon and Aegon's sister and wife, Naerys.[1]

Prince of Dragonstone

When his father became King Aegon IV Targaryen in 172 AC, Daeron became the heir to the Iron Throne and the Prince of Dragonstone. Daeron challenged much of Aegon IV's behavior. He became an obstacle to many of his father's schemes, most notably Aegon's plan to start an unprovoked war on Dorne. The king ignored Daeron's protests, built a massive fleet, and sent it to invade the Dornish coastin 174 AC. Daeron was relieved when the fleet was scattered and destroyed by a storm en route.[1]

At about the same time, Daeron's mother, Queen Naerys, was suddenly accused of adultery and treason by Ser Morgil Hastwyck, trying to cast doubts on Daeron's parentage. The matter was settled when Prince Aemon the Dragonknight defended his sister's honor and slew her accuser in a trial by combat.[1][10] According to the writings of Maester Kaeth in Lives of Four Kings, King Aegon had secretly started the rumors of Naerys's adultery. The king denied rumors he had used Morgil to instigate this tale so he would have reason to disinherit Daeron.[1]

Late in Aegon's reign, after the deaths of Aemon and Naerys, Aegon began to make thinly-veiled references to Daeron's alleged illegitimacy, insinuating that Daeron was not his son, but the product of an illegitimate union between his wife Naerys and their other brother, Aemon. It was also rumored that Aegon planned to disinherit Daeron in favor of a bastard son, Daemon.[1]

Aegon never formally disowned Daeron. Accounts differ as to why, probably because to do so would have meant civil war. Chief among Daeron's supporters was House Martell, due to his marriage to Princess Mariah Martell of Sunspear.[1] Daeron spent most of the last years of his father's reign on Dragonstone with his wife and children.[3]

On his deathbed, the spiteful Aegon legitimized all his bastards, with those born to noble mothers being called the Great Bastards.[1]

Reign

Upon learning of his father Aegon IV's death, Daeron departed Dragonstone for King's Landing. He chose to crown himself with his father's crown to quell the doubts and rumors about his parentage. Mindful of his duty to the realm, Daeron acted swiftly to put to right many of the wrongs of his father's reign. He replaced the small council with his own men, typically selecting wise and capable councillors. It took a year to repair the City Watch of King's Landing, whose officers were just as corrupt as Aegon had been.[3]

Daeron could not undo the legitimization of his father's bastards, but he treated them honorably and continued the incomes bestowed on them. He paid the dowry Aegon had promised the Archon of Tyrosh for his daughter, Rohanne of Tyrosh, to wed Daemon Blackfyre when Daemon was thirteen.[N 1] On Daemon's wedding day, Dareon granted him a tract of land near the Blackwater Rush so Daemon could build a keep.[3]

Because of Daeron's marriage to Mariah Martell, many noble Dornishmen and women flocked to Daeron's court, which served to give life in the Red Keep a foreign flavor, but this also alienated many of Daeron's other nobles and courtiers. Daeron and Mariah's marriage was happy and fruitful.[3]

To celebrate the peaceful joining of Dorne to the realm, Daeron founded Summerhall, a new palace in the Dornish Marches lightly fortified to represent the new peace. However, other Great Houses resented special privileges and rights which were allowed to House Martell. Maron was allowed to keep the royal title "Prince" and could collect taxes for the Iron Throne with less oversight from King's Landing.[3]

The king became known as Daeron the Good by smallfolk and lords alike. While he was more scholar than warrior, two of his sons were skilled at arms. The eldest became known as Baelor Breakspear for the incident at the tourney to celebrate the wedding of Daenerys with Maron of Dorne, in which Baelor unhorsed Daemon Blackfyre in the final tilt. Daerion's youngest son, Maekar, also proved a formidable fighter.[3]

Daemon's, half brother and fellow Great Bastard Aegor Rivers, known as Bittersteel, motivated Daemon to finally make his claim. With the late King Aegon's rumors of Daeron's parentage in mind, some rebels, such as Ser Eustace Osgrey, saw Daemon as falseborn and a usurper of the Iron Throne.[6]

King Daeron II died the next year in the Great Spring Sickness, along with two of his grandchildren, Princes Valarr and Matarys.[6] He was succeeded by his second son, Aerys I Targaryen. Daeron had reigned for twenty five years, and most of the those years had seen peace and plenty for the realm.[3]

Quotes about Daeron

“

He was a good king, everybody says so. He brought Dorne into the realm and made the Dornishmen our friends.[6]

The whole realm knew that the girl loved Daeron's bastard brother Daemon Blackfyre, and was loved by him in turn, but the king was wise enough to see that the good of thousands must come before the desires of two, even if those two were dear to him.[11]

Notes

↑Daemon's birth seems to have occurred in late 170 AC, as Baelor died in 171 AC following the forty-day fast which he had started following Daemon's birth. Daemon's marriage occurred early in 184 AC, as his eldest children were born that same year.